Electrical Efficiency of Electrolytic Hydrogen Production

Abstract

Common industrial electrolyzers have a nominal hydrogen production efficiency of around 70%. High power dissipation value is the most important drawback of such systems since electric power expense has the largest share in the price of electrolytic hydrogen. The electrical impedance of an electrolysis cell causes a fraction of the applied energy to be wasted as heat while the electric current passes through it. As the prior publications show, many efforts are made to reduce this effect. According to the available literature, several internal and external variables are pointed out to have an influence on the electrical behavior of such cells. This paper provides an insight to these factors in regards to minimize the energy loss of the process of water electrolysis.